Analysis of thiabendazole, 4-tert-octylphenol and chlorpyrifos in waste and sewage water by direct injection – micellar liquid chromatography

Abstract

A micellar liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the simultaneous quantification of the pesticides thiabendazole and chlorpyrifos, as well as an alkylphenol, which is included in pesticide formulations, i.e., 4-tert-octylphenol, in water. A sample was filtered and directly injected, avoiding large extraction steps using toxic solvents, thus expediting the experimental procedure. The contaminants were eluted without interferences in <17 min, using a mobile phase of 0.15 M sodium dodecyl sulfate – 6% 1-pentanol buffered at pH 3, running through a C18 column at 1 mL min⁻¹ under the isocratic mode. This optimal mobile phase was selected using a statistical approach, which considers the retention factor, efficiency and peak shape of the analytes measured in only a few mobile phases. The detection was carried out by measuring absorbance at 220 nm. The method was successfully validated in terms of specificity, calibration range (0.5–10 mg L⁻¹), linearity (r² > 0.994), limit of detection and quantification (0.2–0.3; and 0.5–0.8 mg L⁻¹, respectively), intra- and interday accuracy (95.2–102.9%), precision (<8.3%), and ruggedness (<9.3%). The stability in storage conditions (at least 14 days) was studied. The method was safe, inexpensive, produced little pollutant and has a short analysis time, thus it is useful for the routine analysis of samples. Finally, the method was applied to analyse wastewater from the fruit-processing industry, wastewater treatment plants, and in sewage water belonging to the Castelló area (Spain). The results were similar to those obtained by an already reliable method.